There has been strong reaction from political parties to the Competition Commission’s announcement that it will be referring 17 banks to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution.
Three of South Africa's big banks have been implicated in the price fixing and collusion scandal involving the rand since 2007.
The competition commission found that ABSA, Standard Bank and Investec, along with other banks, had agreed to collude on prices for bids, offers and bid-offer spreads against the US dollar
The ANC, ANC Women's League (ANCWL), Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have responded the Commission’s decision, which was announced on Wednesday following its investigation since 2015 into fixing and market allocation in the trading of foreign currency pairs involving the rand.
The ANC said the findings by the Commission have crudely exposed the ethical crisis in the country's banking sector.
Spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa, said the manipulation of the currency was an attack on the constitutional mandate of the SA Reserve Bank to protect the value of the rand.
Kodwa said the ANC calls for government to move with great urgency to diversify the financial sector.
"The ANC calls on government to take to heart the lessons learnt from this expose and move with the greatest urgency to diversify the financial services sector, introduce new players and irreversibly transform this industry in favour of the people and the nation."
The ANCWL called on the government to stop doing business with banks named by the Competition Commission.
The DA said it the took collusion very seriously, as it worked against fairness and opportunity in the marketplace and ultimately hurt the consumer.
However, DA Shadow Minister of Economic Development Michael Cardo said the ANC had prejudged the outcome of the case by accusing the banks of a profit-driven assault on the rand, fuelled by nefarious agendas and politically motivated intentions.
Cardo said a recent investigation by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and the Financial Services Board into the foreign exchange operations of authorised foreign exchange dealers in the domestic market found no evidence of serious and widespread misconduct.
The EFF said in its reaction that it would write to the South African Reserve Bank to demand that the banking and operating licences of Absa, Standard Bank and Investec be discontinued immediately.
The party said allegations of price fixing of the rand are treacherous and should be treated as such.
